Tesla is best known for electric vehicles and energy products, but it is also building a humanoid robotics program called Optimus. Tesla frames Optimus as a general-purpose, bi-pedal, autonomous humanoid designed to take on “unsafe, repetitive or boring” tasks - work that is hard to staff or risky for people - and to eventually operate in human environments rather than behind industrial fencing.
As of 2026, Tesla has transitioned its humanoid robotics program from early prototyping into a production-intent phase with the 2026 debut of Optimus Gen 3 (V3). Designed for mass manufacturability, the Gen 3 platform moves beyond the agility demos of its predecessor to focus on high-dexterity industrial labor. The most significant hardware advancement is the new 22-degree-of-freedom (DoF) hand assembly, which uses forearm-mounted actuators and tendon-driven systems to achieve human-level manipulation. These hands feature integrated tactile sensors, enabling the robot to handle fragile components, such as battery cells and plastic clips, on active production lines.
The program's intelligence has shifted toward "Physical AI," utilizing a unified neural architecture (FSD-v15) that allows the robot to learn by observation rather than rigid programming. By watching video data of human workers, Optimus can now generalize complex tasks in hours. This software is powered by Tesla's custom silicon roadmap; while current units use AI4, the upcoming AI5 and AI6 chips are designed to deliver a step-change in reasoning and environmental understanding specifically for the robotics fleet.
Tesla’s deployment strategy remains internal-first, with a pilot production line in Fremont and a massive "Optimus factory" expansion at Gigafactory Texas. Elon Musk has stated that several thousand units are already performing logistics and assembly tasks within Tesla facilities. The company aims to ramp up to a production rate of 100,000 units annually by late 2026 before opening sales to external customers. With a long-term target price of £15,000 to £25,000, Tesla views Optimus not just as a tool, but as a foundational labor force that could eventually represent 80% of the company's total value.
Looking ahead, “future Tesla robots” largely means successive Optimus generations with more autonomy, better perception and navigation, and more human-like manipulation - moving from demos and pilot tasks toward sustained factory work, and eventually home-assistance scenarios. At scale.
